The present invention relates to an indoor cleaning tool equipped with a fibrous base material. More specifically, the present invention relates to a cleaning tool that can reduce the antigenicity of matter that can provoke allergies.
In recent years, there has been a steady increase in the number of people afflicted with allergic diseases such as allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma. The matter that provokes these allergic diseases is referred to as allergens, of which already approximately 200 types have been discovered today. Mites, mite carcasses, pet hair, and pollen are typical examples. These can provoke various allergic reactions through contact with or entry into the body.
In these cases, using chemicals or the like to kill the mites and the like that provoke allergies does not provide a complete solution since the mite carcasses also have antigenicity. Thus, reducing allergic reactions and preventing new sensitivities from developing requires either completely removing allergens from the living space or reducing the antigenicity of matter that provokes allergies by denaturing allergens or the like.
Examples of an agent for reducing antigenicity of allergy-inducing matter as described above that have been disclosed include allergen inactivating agents made from Olea europaea and/or Ligustrum obtusifolium (Japanese laid-open patent publication number 2003-55122—Patent Document 1).
Also, there have been disclosed antigenicity-reducing agents formed as agents that can be applied or dispersed in an aqueous state onto floors, carpets, and floor mats in the form of an aqueous solution containing aluminum sulfate and sodium sulfate as the active components (Japanese laid-open patent publication number 2003-334240—Patent Document 2).
With cleaning tools such as dust cloths, mops, and wipers used to remove indoor dust and particles, allergens become adhesed to the cleaning tool during cleaning and stay on the cleaning tool for an extended time. As described above, reducing or preventing allergic reactions would require reducing the antigenicity of the allergens on the cleaning tool.
However, the agents in Patent Document 1 and 2 are all used by applying or dispersing them directly on places that can come into contact with the body, e.g., floor mats, carpets, floors, clothes. This makes it necessary to wipe away the agent or to remove it with a vacuum cleaner after application, resulting in a burden on the user. Easy elimination of allergy-inducing matter in the cleaning of dust and particles on floors and furniture that are cleaned most often has not been investigated. Also, since the conventional methods moisten the object being cleaned, the object must then be dried. Dry cleaning methods for reducing allergy-inducing matter have not been proposed. Furthermore, no research has been done on reducing antigenicity of allergy-inducing matter contained in dust and particles collected on dry cleaning tools such as mops.
More specifically, with indoor cleaning tools, disposable and replaceable tools are possible. Dry tools equipped with fibrous base materials in sheet or brush form that contain essentially no moisture have been well-received in the market. With these dry cleaning tools, there is a need for the antigenicity-reducing composition to be adhesive to and permeable in the fibrous base material, and the transfer of the composition to the object being cleaned must be minimal.
The Patent Document 1 does not take into account the adhesiveness or the permeability of the composition. Also, the allergen-reducing agent in the Patent Document 2 is meant to be used as an aqueous fluid, i.e., in a “wet” state, and is not easily applicable to a dry cleaning tool that contain essentially no moisture.